To Last a Lifetime
by vanillaparchment
Summary: Two years after the war, Harry Potter is unrecognizable except for the girl on his arm and the scar on his forehead. Even his close friendship with Hermione is beginning to falter. Can he learn to hold on before it's too late? H/Hr: Reviews appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Somehow I doubt J.K. Rowling would ever write something like this.

A/N: While casting about for inspiration for "That Old House" this came up. Amazing how things like that work, yes? And while I know that many if not all of the characters (Harry and Ginny, mostly) are OOC, I tried to show why as best I could. (And as you can tell, I'm not feeling particularly charitable towards Ginny at the moment.)

Chapter One

Silverware clinked through the rather sleepy silence of the flat currently being shared by Harry, Ron, and Neville. The three girls (Hermione, Luna, and Ginny) sat across from said men, politely eating and politely ignoring the rather clumsy manners of their friends.

Hermione finally broke the silence.

"Harry."

Immediately, Ginny's gaze flashed to her current boyfriend, then snapped to his best friend, who ignored her warning scowl.

Harry looked up and swallowed his food.

"Yeah." he said, noncommittally. Hermione winced noticeably, and Ron, Neville, and Luna exchanged agitated glances. Lately (or if they were going to be frank, since Harry and Ginny had begun dating again), Harry had been uncharacteristically careless of Hermione's feelings and opinions.

Perhaps Ginny liked it that way, but Ron detested it, and bluntly, he detested the person Harry had become. He was rather cynical, cold, and, worst of all, rather lust-driven, and not, Ron suspected, _just_ towards Ginny.

"Could you come to St. Mungo's on Thursday afternoon?" Hermione asked finally, her lip trapped under her teeth. "There's someone I'm working with who--"

"Sorry, Hermione, I'm busy." Harry cut across her. She flinched again, noticing, as everyone did, the rather hungry look he had cast at Ginny. Ron's fists were currently clutching the edge of the tabletop. "Besides, since when did St. Mungo's need my help? I'm useless at healing--"

"This wasn't about that." Hermione's words were carefully measured, although Ron could see the beginning of tears at the corners of her eyes. "Healing, I mean... sort of. I just thought--"

"He's busy, Hermione." Ginny said rather icily, and Hermione fell silent. Her cheeks were very flushed. "He told you."

"Yes." Hermione managed a very forced smile. "He did."

Something in Harry's impassive expression changed the smallest fraction when Hermione swiftly ducked her head, attempting to hide her tears.

"I mean." he said finally, with one of his (horribly, Luna thought almost angrily) soothing smiles. "There's nothing our Hermione can't handle."

_Except for an egotistical, selfish git like you._ Ron and Neville's faces were decided shades of scarlet.

"You flatter me." Hermione said quietly. "But Harry, we need help: _your_ help."

"Don't lecture me, Hermione." Harry brushed her off, spearing a bit of ham on his fork. "I've helped as much as I can--"

"That's not true." Hermione said rather tersely. "And you know it's not."

The whole room tensed, until Ginny snapped, "Lay off him, will you, Hermione? Wasn't ending Voldemort enough for you?"

Hermione's lips thinned.

"Please." she said finally, in a very cold voice. "Just let Harry and I talk for a bit. Come outside, Harry?"

Harry laughed incredulously but followed her obediently.

Ron, Luna, and Neville glanced at each other, nodded, and then followed, wielding a pair of Extended Ears. Hermione finally turned to Harry, and in a much more pleading tone than before, said, "Harry, there are people who _need_ you-- and not just to worship or to thank you, either. They need your smile-- your kindness--"

"Hermione, that's not my job." Harry said, shaking his head and smiling at her in a way that made Ron's skin crawl with disgust. "That's yours. I'm busy, too, you know that."

"But it _is_ your job." Hermione said angrily, her cheeks burning. "It's mine and everyone else's; to look after people who are hurting-- to help when we can. Do something worthwhile when we have the chance--"

"Look, Hermione, I really am sorry." he said impatiently, "You know that I am."

Hermione's eyes flashed, and Harry took a step back as she glared at him.

"No, I don't." each word fell hard and cold upon their ears. "In fact, I'm not sure I'm talking to the right person, right now."

She searched his face one more time, her anger abating slightly as her voice softened in a painful sorrow that filled her eyes.

"I thought better of you." And that was all.

Harry's face and smile paled and faded as she turned and walked away, head erect despite the tears trickling down her cheeks, despite the anguish clearly displayed on her face.

He cursed softly under his breath.

His heart was hammering hard against his chest as he watched her small figure whirl around and disappear with a pop. He cursed again, running a hand through his hair. What did she want him to say? She knew he was busy; she knew he had dates and meetings to go to...

But Merlin-- the disappointment was almost unbearable. The hope dissolving in her soft, honey brown gaze as she examined his features as if they had just met for the first time.

Hermione had the uncanny ability of making him feel like a complete prat.

He shook himself. This was _her_ problem, he reminded himself, not his, and it was unfair of her to expect that he could just drop everything to help her. It was only a second before he realized he had spoken out loud.

"No, it's not, you-- you complete-- you--" Ron's voice came from behind him, almost incoherent due to rage. Harry turned around and saw that Luna was desperately clutching Ron's arms in an attempt to keep Ron from jumping at him. "I can't believe you!"

Harry smirked, though he felt rather shaken. The rage-- _hatred_-- in Ron's blue eyes cut him to the core. Neville, too, was looking at him with little more than cool disdain.

"I remember a time when you _would_ drop everything to help her." Neville spoke finally, in a cold, icy voice Harry had never heard him use before. The smirk slid off his face as he frowned. "When you would die for her-- have you forgotten the dreams, Harry?"

Harry's guards went up.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." he lied impassively.

Neville's face whitened.

"You would scream for her in your sleep, do you remember? You would scream and beg for him to 'take me, take me instead, just stop it, don't hurt her--"

Harry forced a laugh.

"I still don't know what you're talking about." Harry said.

"And she would always come, wouldn't she, Harry?" Neville spoke softly, and there was such open hostility coursing through his voice that the hairs stood up on the back of his neck. "She would always come and stay beside you, always listen, always wipe away your tears with a damp cloth..."

Then his voice hardened.

"And this is how you repay her for staying by you, even when she was certain it was a trap-- do you remember the Department of Mysteries? She could have died there, but she made it--"

"Nev, don't be dramatic, it's just one thing that I have to miss. Is that a crime?"

But this isn't just one thing." Luna spoke; pushing Ron behind her and speaking in the angriest tone he had ever heard her use. "This is a year's worth of indifference, condescension, and yes, even cruelty. She used to be your best friend. She still is, at least she's stayed by you. You've just-- cast her off."

"Yeah." Ron said with a derisive laugh. "She won't just sleep around with you and make you pretty babies. She'll actually make you _feel_, right? I never thought I'd say this to you, Potter, but you have to be the worst coward there ever was."

"I have not been cruel to her! And I am _not_ a coward." Harry spat, "Listen,_ Weasley_, I think _I'm_ the one who had to comfort her when you ran off--"

Ron snorted.

"You were a different person, then." he said scornfully, "_That_ Harry was in love with her."

Luna's eyes widened, but Ron and Neville snickered.

"I was not in love with her!"

_"Come on, Hermione..." Harry whispered, just barely grazing her damp cheek with a finger. "I'm here, we're together... come on..."_

_And he couldn't help but think that she was--_

Harry stopped the memory in its tracks, but not before the word _beautiful_ crossed his mind. He glared at the three.

"You know what, I can't have this conversation." Luna said finally, and everyone was startled to see tears spilling down her cheeks. "Not here, not now-- I have to go find Hermione."

"Luna." Ron's voice softened, and he reached out to gently grasp her hand. She spun away.

"This is all _wrong!"_

And she whirled around, and Disapparated.

* * *

"Hermione?"

Ron reached out and shook his sleeping friend. Her eyes fluttered open, and she gasped softly. "Did you take your potions?"

She shook her head.

"It's rather distracting." she put a hand to her side, closing her eyes as a spasm of pain crossed her face. Ron bit the inside of his cheek and grit his teeth.

_He was going to kill Harry James Potter for doing this to her._

"Hermione, come on." and before she could protest, he swept her up in his arms and took her to her room, laying her on the bed. He slipped into her neat little bathroom and mechanically measured out designated amounts of about a dozen potions.

Then, he placed them on a tray and took them to her bedside table.

"I don't know what happened to him, Ron." Hermione burst out, as she slammed the first empty cup onto the tabletop. "I used to admire him-- care about him--"

"Love him?" Ron said softly, and she flinched. He had a feeling that it wasn't her side that was causing it.

Then she bowed her head.

"I always loved him, Ron, you know that." she whispered, as she lifted the third cup to her lips. "It's just--" and she pulled a face as she set that one down, "I'm not sure I-- do anymore. Oh, what am I saying?"

"It's okay." he said quietly, as she drained another potion. "He's just changed, and I think we all know why."

"I wish it didn't have to be _her_, for your sake." Hermione said earnestly, making Ron offer a wan smile.

"Yeah, well, Ginny usually got her way anyway." he said dryly. "I just thought Harry was more of a man than to spend his time meekly letting her get her way with him."

As Hermione reluctantly drank her way through the remaining eight cups, Ron watched her intently.

"Hermione..." he began slowly (he didn't wish to hurt her) "did you ever... wonder if you and him..."

"Occasionally." Hermione admitted with a weak smile. "All I knew was that I loved him.... and really, I wasn't sure how, anyway. Was it sisterly love? I didn't know, I'd never had a sibling. Or did I love him romantically? How would I know, I'd never fallen in love before."

He shrugged.

"Come on, you know everything, admit it." he teased gently, prompting a small but genuine smile.

"By the way, Ron." she said, after a moment. "You don't need to worry about Luna."

He blushed to the roots of his hair, making her grin.

"You reckon so?"

"Oh, Ron," she said, lightly, "I know everything, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

She laughed, but it wasn't a real laugh. It never was, anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yeah, so this is where things start to get a little... _different_ where characterization is involved with Hermione. Although you might think this whole thing is OOC with _all_ of the characters. Ah, the dangers of experimentation!

Chapter Two

Harry's brains were just about to slide out of his ears from boredom as the head of the healing department dragged him through yet another tour of St. Mungo's. Who cared who was in what ward? Didn't they have directories for this sort of thing?

He deliberately fell behind the droning head lead the group down the hallway for permanent residents, all the while praying that he didn't run into Lockhart.

In the end, however, Harry would have gladly gone back and collected autographs, rather than what actually happened.

"... come on, Alaina... come on--" coaxed an all too familiar voice.

_Hermione._

He moved toward the doorway, which was only barely cracked open. He chanced a glance into the room, and his heart constricted, causing a dull ache in his heart as if it were unused to it.

Hermione was kneeling at the end of the ward, as a little girl of about four made a painful, aimless path toward her. Three people, a healer and presumably Alaina's parents, watched in silence. The woman had tears trickling down her face, although they were tears of anticipation.

"Come on, sweetheart." coaxed Hermione, and the compassion in her voice caused a sharp pang in Harry's heart. "You're doing so well."

The girl froze, then slowly turned her head. Harry barely contained a gasp.

The girl was blind.

And her legs were rather stiff, due to the fact that metal braces were strapped around them. But as she stilled, a smile of joy blazed across the pale little face.

And amid the gasps and cries of, "It's a miracle!", little Alaina dashed towards Hermione, arms outstretched. Her hoarse voice screamed one word and one word only, "Mione!_ Mione!"_

And Hermione caught the girl in her arms , a radiant smile shining on her face, tears racing fast down her cheeks. And Hermione was crying-- sobbing with joy, stroking Alaina's red locks and crying, "Oh, yes, yes, darling, you've done it!"

And Harry realized exactly why Hermione had wanted him to come:

She had wanted him to share in her joy.

Unable to watch any longer, Harry backed away from the door, back pressed against the wall, heart throbbing and ears ringing painfully.

"Take her home." he heard Hermione say to the parents, who were both sobbing now. "Please, take her home!"

"We'll never be able to thank you, Healer Granger, never enough." wailed the woman, and the man added thickly, "If there's _anything_ we can _ever_ do--"

"Just love her as you always have." Hermione's voice was heard saying, "She deserves to go home, finally."

"She'll be with us for the first time, John!" the woman sobbed, and the man choked back a sob of his own. "Come on, darling--"

Harry backed quickly into a shadow as the deliriously happy couple took their daughter home. He crept the door as he heard the healer speak.

"You've preformed nothing short of a miracle here, Hermione."

"I must say I'm a bit in shock, myself." she admitted, though Harry could tell she was still smiling. "But Alaina had the willpower to break that curse, I knew she did."

A chuckle.

"That determination in itself is admirable, Hermione. But..."

His voice trailed.

"In your condition, working on things like this could be--"

"I know, Ben, I know." Hermione said, cutting him off. "I just love this work too much to stop."

"Well, if there's anything I can do--"

"Thanks, Ben."

Before Harry could even properly begin to process this conversation, the door flew open. A young man in Healer's robes stared at him.

"Good Merlin." he said in surprise. "Hermione, your no-show showed up anyway."

_"What?"_

Hermione appeared in the doorway. Her eyes narrowed as soon as they landed on Harry.

"Harry." she said, her brown eyes flashing. "Ben, would you mind--"

"No, of course not." he said, nodding and quickly moving to the room next

door. "Pleasant day, Hermione."

She watched him go. Harry was surprised to see a small smile playing at her lips.

Of course it vanished immediately as she turned on him.

"Bit late, were you?" she said in a voice of forced calm.

"Hermione, I--"

"You know what." Hermione said angrily, "To quote Luna, I can't have this conversation now. Not here."

And she turned and strode down the hallway, her light blue robes rippling with her swift movement.

"Hermione!"

He wasn't sure what he was going to say anyway. But he knew he couldn't

let her just walk away. He caught her arm.

"Let me go, Harry." she said, pulling away. "Go to Ginny and let her make you feel better, because there's nothing I'm going to be able to do for you."

He winced.

"I'm sorry." he said finally. The words came painfully, but he knew he had to say them.

She paused, looking surprised.

After an awkward moment of silence in which she scanned his face, she said, "I believe that's the first sincere apology you've uttered in the past two years, which is, if you don't mind me saying, pitiful, considering how many times you've told me that you were 'sorry'."

Harry ventured a tentative grin.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Merlin. Couldn't she stay still for a moment? Harry hurried after her.

"Lunch?" he offered.

"Harry, leave me alone."

"No." he said stubbornly, catching her arm. What, did she think she could just walk all over him and leave it at that? "Come on, Hermione."

"No, to answer your question. Ginny wouldn't be happy if you were seen with me."

Frustrated, he said, "My life doesn't revolve around Ginny, you know!"

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. He hated himself for flushing.

"Go home, Harry." she said finally. "I'm busy and frankly, this is a waste of time."

Harry felt anger bubble in his stomach.

"So that's it, then?" he said angrily, matching her pace and following her. "You're just going to throw away our friendshi--"

"If you say friendship, I'm going to laugh." Hermione said coldly. "This isn't friendship, Harry. I don't know what happened after the war, but you simply don't care about me anymore, and there's no use trying to force it."

He stared at her, heart sinking. Then something in her firmly resolved face flinched slightly, and she looked away.

"I'm sorry this had to happen." she said wistfully. "I used to think we were inseparable."

And she left him standing in the middle of the crowded hospital hallway, with nothing but a dull ache he had previously thought himself incapable of feeling.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Still not asleep?"

Luna came into the bedroom she shared with Hermione and found her roommate curled on the bench by the window, gazing out into the night sky.

"I couldn't."

"Perhaps some Grediline powder?"

"I've told you, Luna, that stuff simply doesn't work." Hermione said, though affectionately. "Thank you, though."

Luna checked their beds for Jekewrats, as was her habit. Her radish earrings swung in rhythm with her blond hair, and Hermione noticed with a smile what she had around her neck.

"The necklace from Ron." she said, making Luna start. She smiled serenely.

"Yes. It was rather nice of him, wasn't It." she said, a familiarly dreamy look entering her eyes. Hermione couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

"What's bothering you?"

Hermione jumped.

She hesitated, and then blurted, "Harry was at St. Mungo's today."

"So." Luna said thoughtfully, perching on her twin bed, opposite Hermione. "He does still feel for you, somehow."

"Don't be silly." Hermione said agitatedly. "He wouldn't even come into the ward, the coward. I just-- wish I could delude myself into thinking that he did it for me."

"Why else would he come?"

"Ron." Hermione said with a sigh. "To get back with his best mate."

"That's you, isn't it?"

"Stop it." Hermione said, curling her arms around her knees. "I know perfectly well that's why he did it. He's not my best friend anymore, Luna. He's just-- not who I knew."

Luna swung her legs back and forth off the edge of the bed.

"I think he is, somewhere." she said finally. She looked at Hermione. "You pull at the real Harry inside him."

"I think the real Harry's too far gone." Hermione said flatly.

"You don't mean that." Luna said gently, making Hermione look away. "You know you could never really give up on him."

"And, dear Merlin, I do try." Hermione said miserably. "It would be so much easier."

Luna climbed off the bed and sat at the opposite end of the bench.

"Don't." she said earnestly, "Don't you see, Hermione, that he's just afraid? He knows you're right, he knows he can't stop helping others, can't help caring about you... but don't you see that being _this_ way keeps him from having to be real? His whole _life_ has become a charade.... his 'love' for Ginny itself is a charade. And look who's sitting right in front of him, offering something real? You. But suppose he lost you? He would lose himself and he can't risk that."

Hermione closed her eyes.

"You know why _I_ can't risk that, either."

Luna smiled sadly.

"I wouldn't give up quite yet."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Ginny had gone home (finally), leaving Harry, Neville, and Ron in their apartment. Harry looked horribly bothered, Ron thought with satisfaction. Maybe he'll finally end it with her.

"So." Harry spoke to his roommates, both of whom were doing their level best to avoid him at all costs. "I-- erm... I ran into Hermione."

Neville dropped the chessboard onto Ron's foot. (Ron was too busy staring at Harry open-mouthed to notice.)

Harry shuffled his feet.

"She wasn't... too happy with me."

Ron and Neville still continued gaping at him.

"So I apologized."

Now the two were completely flabbergasted.

"She told me that... well, we weren't... we didn't have friendship anymore and that there was no use trying to force it."

Harry took a deep breath, and with what seemed to be a great effort, said, "Have I been that bad?"

Ron's face split into a grin.

"Harry, for once in a long time, you're talking sense."

Harry offered a hesitant smile back.

"You've been worse than Malfoy." Neville said frankly, making Harry cringe.

"What's wrong with Hermione?" he said finally, "I heard her talking with another Healer about her 'condition', what--"

Ron fell silent, then he spoke.

"It was that curse she took in fifth year." he said carefully, "It-- erm... interfered with her."

Harry's stomach was churning, but he forced himself to say quite calmly, "In what way?"

Ron looked at Neville.

Neville looked at him sadly.

"Harry, she's not expected to be with us much more than eight more years." he said quietly, looking positively miserable. "We thought you knew."

Harry's breath had taken sudden leave of his lungs.

"It's amazing, actually, because at first we thought she wouldn't last much more than-- well, a few months." Ron said very quickly, obviously trying to sound cheerful, "She takes about a dozen potions every day, and the healers say that her willpower in fighting the curse has kept her alive so far. And Hermione, well, she's not one to give up, right?"

Harry sank back onto the couch.

_"You simply don't care about me anymore."_

"Did she go home?"

Ron glanced at his watch. "She's usually home by now, but why--"

_Crack!_

"Wow." Neville said after a long pause. "I never thought anyone could Apparate so quickly."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Harry severely regretted never having been to the flat Hermione and Luna shared. He was, sadly, lost. Ginny had never seen any reason for them to visit the two, anyway, but---

Harry shivered and looked up at the (wrong) apartment building.

_Eight years._

He sank into the grass, staring up at the lights in the window. Someone was obviously watching a sappy movie on the telly, for he saw a couple kissing passionately on a canoe.

_Eight years._

Hermione.

No wonder Ron and Luna and Neville had been so upset about him brushing Hermione off. They had _known_ that this was one of the last few years they would have with her.

How could he not have known?

"Lost, dearie?"

Harry jumped and stared up at the old lady in front of him. She was smiling at him kindly, waving a shaky, knotted hand in greeting.

"You wouldn't happen to know a Hermione Granger, would you?"

She brightened.

"Oh, yes, I do. Wonderful young lady, helps me with my housework sometimes." she winked, wrinkling her already rather wrinkled cheek. "If I were you, young man, I'd hold onto her heart. She's worth a thousand of the models on the telly."

_If only I had her heart to hold onto on the first place._

"Could you... could you...?"

She pointed across the street. "Flat Seven."

"Thanks." he said gratefully, and on impulse, offered, "Could I help you with those packages?"

She chortled.

"Aren't you the charmer. No, go on over, young man."

* * *

"Hermione?"

Hermione's heart raced suddenly as she heard his voice. She instinctively reached up and ran a hand down her braid.

Luna smiled at her and motioned toward the door.

Hermione slipped off the bed, slipping into a robe before making her way toward the front door. She opened it.

"What?" she said, attempting to appear peeved, until she saw how pale he looked.

"Harry. What-- what happened?"

Mentally, Hermione began berating herself._Stop it. Stop being... so predictable. He's-- _

"Hermione, I need to talk to you."

_Merlin, why did Hermione choose tonight of all nights to pull back her hair? It only highlighted how pale she seemed. So small...._

"I'm here, then." she said shortly. "Talk."

"Not here. Not where anyone could-- please?"

It was the 'please' that did it. Hermione could almost delude herself into thinking that he was like he used to be.

She sighed, stood aside and let him inside.

He stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

There she stood, the thin blue robe covering her T-Shirt and pajama pants. Harry had forgotten how familiar he had used to be with her eyes and her face.... how he had had that face memorized.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he finally managed to say, unable to keep the pain from his voice. He used to be a lot better at hiding it-- he used to _feel_ much more.

"Because I knew this would happen." she said simply, tilting back her chin and looking him in the eye. "I didn't need you pretending to be my friend because you pitied me."

He felt his vision blur.

"Hermione, I--"

"Harry, please." she whispered, and now he could see that she was just barely managing to breathe. "Leave. I can't-- I don't want you lying to me more than you already have."

He felt a horrible _thing_ shudder through him. For the first time in two years, his cheeks felt the salty sting of tears. It was then he realized that the _thing_ was... was a sob.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, please--"

Hermione felt her heart tremble at the feeling in his voice... _feeling._ From this man who had proven so oblivious, so coldly unaware of her... and he was-- _crying._ Her knees gave way on her, but he had clasped her against his chest as it heaved with tears.

She had forgotten how completely wonderful his embrace had felt, how it used to render her completely speechless... how protected, how _safe_ it made her feel....

He was rocking her back and forth, moaning her name as if she had already left him. His hands ran down her braid.

Her hands were pressed against his chest, and she felt his heart wildly beating against her palm.

She felt her side pain her again and knew she had forgotten her potions again; she felt the scar on her side sear as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She let out a cry of pain.

"Hermione."

And he let go, anxiously scanning her face, asking if she was all right, if there was something he could do.

_Just like he used to._

She found it completely unbelievable that he could be so transformed in the course of a single night, a few words...

_You pull at the real Harry inside of him._

"Hermione?"

The pain started again, the pain she had used only days ago to numb the pain in her heart. The vision of his face spun as she stumbled away, clutching at the table top and gasping .

"Hermione!"

Were those his hands cradling her cheeks, or was she simply imagining it...

"Hermione, stay with me... come on--"

Panic was all Harry could feel at the moment, sheer terror, as Hermione fell against the table, sending several glasses crashing to the floor.

"Hermione!"

Ron, Neville and Luna appeared at the same time, to find Harry on his knees beside her, shaking her, hoarsely repeating her name over and over again as if that itself was going to wake her.

"Hermione, it's Harry-- me, I'm back, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

He cradled her against him with a tenderness Ron, Neville, and Luna had been so certain he had lost.

"The potions. Ron, the potions!" Luna cried, and the three sprung into action.

* * *

Harry couldn't bring himself to leave Hermione alone. So he sat by her bedside, watching her face in the glow of the candles.

When the candles had burned so low Harry had to get new ones, Hermione coughed.

"Hermione!"

The candles fell to the ground, cracking in half. Harry knelt beside her, his green eyes eagerly locked on her face. She gasped and made as if to move away from him, but he let out a shaky breath and stilled her with a hand.

"You're still with me." he whispered, faintly tracing her cheek with a finger. "I was so afraid..."

Her lips moved, barely breathing out the words, "You felt."

He felt an ache move over him as he clasped her cold hand in between his.

"Yeah. And I'm so sorry about-- about _everything_, about hurting you, about-- about being so cold..."

"You seem-- much warmer now." she managed to whisper, her eyes still closed. Her fingers twined with his and he brushed his hand across her cheek.

"And you-- are you cold?" he asked, as he adjusted the blanket. She smiled, the first smile she had ever directed toward him since the war.

"Not with you here."

A distant memory surfaced again, the memory of a cold, lonely tent, of a girl who fell asleep with crying... of sitting beside that bedside, of tracing the cheek with a finger...

Of something he had not dared to do, something he felt himself compelled to do again.

He leaned down, pressing his lips lightly to her forehead, and letting them linger longer than he should have and not caring, because he knew she wanted him there, and that was all that mattered.

And that kiss meant more to Hermione than a thousand of tender kisses given by lovers to lovers, because she knew he wanted to be there, and that was all that mattered.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"I'm not letting you in, Ginny, and that's that." Ron stood blocking the doorway like a Keeper in front of the hoops. "Go home. You'll see him later."

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, if you don't get out of my way I'll-- I'll--"

Ron countered her drawn wand with a firm grip to the wrist.

"I'm sorry. Hermione's not feeling well at the moment, so if you don't mind--"

"_Hermione?"_ Ginny practically shrieked, her face flaming, "What does _she_ have to do with this?"

"Keep it down, if you would."

"I will _not_ keep it down!" True to her word, her shrieks carried to the back room. Harry winced and looked over at Hermione. She had fallen asleep, at least it seemed so, but she was tensed.

"Harry! Harry, it's Ginny!"

Harry sighed and left the room for the front room, where Ginny stood waiting, a bright smile plastered over her rather red cheeks.

"_There_ you are!"

"Here I am." he said simply, gently pushing her away as she attempted to draw him into one of her passionate snogging sessions right in the middle of Hermione and Luna's living room. "Did you need something?"

"Come on, Harry, darling..." Ginny approached him, as if to kiss him, but he stepped back.

"Sorry, Ginny." he said calmly, "Hermione's ill and I--"

"Oh, Hermione." Ginny said dismissively, "I thought we agreed that she needed to be alone in order to focus--"

"Which, if you don't mind me saying, was one of the stupidest things I've ever agreed to." Harry said, now sounding slightly impatient. "Please just keep it down, if you must stay."

Ginny stared at him.

"What did she _do_ to you?"

"What did who do to me?"

"_Hermione._" Ginny said angrily. "Don't make me--"

"I've got to stay here." Harry said quietly. "She's not well."

"Neither am I!" Ginny said, irritably. "And who comes first, me, or Hermione?"

Harry took a deep breath and let it out. He looked up at the ceiling, then back into Ginny's face.

"Quite honestly, Ginny, I'm going to have to say Hermione. Go home." he said gently, as Ginny took a step back, looking stunned.

"Did you just-- break up with me?" she demanded in a shaky voice. He tightened his jaw then licked his lips.

"Looks that way." he said finally, making Ginny let out a noise of disbelief and anger.

"You unfeeling-- you--"

"Unfeeling is what I'd become with you, and frankly, that's not what I want out of a relationship." Harry said evenly. Then, kindly, he said, "You deserve better than me, Ginny."

Her lip trembled. "I should _hope_ so!"

With that, she stormed out.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Hermione's laughter made Harry's heart swell. The colorful gold and scarlet leaves swirled about them like confetti as he pushed her higher on the swing.

"I still think you should let me take you flying!" he called to her as she flashed him a smile over her shoulder.

"This is much safer!"

He laughed too, catching the chains of the swing and bringing her to a stop. Before she could protest, he had caught her in his arms. Her laughter subsided as she let him hold her tightly against him. He stroked her hair.

She raised her dancing eyes to meet his, causing his heart to melt. He leaned in, giving her a quick kiss on the mouth. She smiled, her cheeks flushing shyly as they always did when he ventured to kiss her.

He had established from the beginning that he was going to treat her differently from the other girls he had dated. "I'm going to treat each kiss with you like a treasure, Hermione-- something that didn't happen with Ginny."

Which made Hermione feel even luckier.

He smiled and brushed his hand over her mouth.

"Go home?"

"Not yet." she said softly, nestling closer to him. "Just a little longer."

She heard him hesitate, then he leaned down and breathed, "Just forever, Hermione. Promise me forever."

Hermione's breath caught as she stared into his eyes. He took a slight step back and held out his hand, palm up, as though presenting her with a Golden Snitch.

But there it sat, every girl's dream, an engagement ring resting in his hand.

_Forever.... _how Hermione wished that she had it within her power to give it away.

Harry knew what she was thinking-- _year four of eight and he's asking forever..._

Suddenly he was very afraid that she would refuse his proposal. He looked away, but then found that she had cupped his cheek in her small hand.

Her soft, warm brown eyes were filled with tears, but even her tears couldn't disguise the sparkle in them. Then she spoke, breathless, earnest, tender.

"I promise you _my_ forever-- however long that may be." she whispered, closing her fingers around his.

"And that's all I want." he whispered, tenderly taking her hand and sliding the ring on her finger.

She traced the ring's eternal path around her finger, then looked up into Harry's face.

He laughed his wonderfully carefree laugh.

"All right, all right."

She beamed as he leaned down and kissed her, letting the velvet case fall to the leafy ground, ignoring the leaves that rested in his hair.

There was at least today, and that was all that Hermione wanted.


End file.
